Long before Election Day, the experts determined North Carolina would be a battleground state, with a tight race between Barack Obama and John McCain. Tonight most of the states have been stamped red or blue; but not North Carolina, at least not yet. We asked the State Board of Elections why almost 24 hours after the polls closed, neither candidate has been declared as the winner of our state.
As of Wednesday afternoon the State Board of Elections showed Barack Obama and John McCain virtually in a dead heat. Obama had 49.7% of the votes in North Carolina and McCain had 49.38% with around 13,700 votes separating them.
Johnnie McLean with the State Board of Elections says, "I believe that the reason that it is that close is that the state was pretty equally divided."
McLean says it's likely no one is calling North Carolina yet because it is so close: "North Carolina does not declare anyone to be the winner until the results are official."
Between now and November 14th counties will verify their vote totals and research eligibility of provisional ballots, the only ballots that haven't been completely counted yet. McLean says, "We estimate that we have approximately 40,000 provisional ballots that were cast. We believe that based on historical records about 65% or 26,000 will be counted. They normally reflect the division of the votes among the candidates just they were cast on Election Day."
Bottom line McLean says if someone else wants to call the race in North Carolina they can but her staff will wait until it's official.
The State Board of Elections says provisional ballots have never produced a different winner than who was apparent on Election Day. Representatives say they'll count the eligible ballots between now and November 14th, when the counties will certify their results. The state board will certify the final results on November 25th.
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